1. Field of the Art
This invention relates to the field of nail polishes and bases, and more particularly to a nail polish base and method which through regular application improves the strength and appearance of a person's fingernails and toenails.
2. Field of the Related Art
Many individuals are greatly concerned with the appearance of their fingernails and toenails. Fingernail bases and polishes have the unfortunate effect of drying, yellowing and making the fingernails brittle, split and crack. The problem of weak fingernails grow worse as one ages and is exacerbated by poor nutrition and illness. In addition, many cancer patients and those suffering from other diseases and conditions experience great difficulty in maintaining healthy and attractive fingernails because their fingernails split, crack, become bumpy and uneven, and fail to grow. Others who have damaged their nails in the past often experience difficulty in growing their fingernails out.
Some prior methods deal with these unattractive and weak fingernails by covering up the problem nails, i.e. by applying acrylic to the nails and then shaping them. However, acrylic nails are relatively costly, use strong smelling chemicals, and must be filled in near the cuticle as the nails grow out. Moreover, acrylic nails may not be appropriate for everyone, i.e. those who are ill.
Other methods attempt to supply essential vitamins, moistening oils, minerals and nutrients to the fingernails in order to improve the condition of the nails by applying nail polishes containing these ingredients. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,866 to Turco et al. discloses an artificial nail forming composition to shape the fingernails having calcium, vitamins A, B, D and E and other ingredients in a base of mono- and poly- alkyl methacrylate. U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,796 to Bouillon and U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,920 to Devos and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,887,702 and 3,928,561 to Baldwin disclose fingernail hardening compositions with vitamins and other ingredients. U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,133 to O'Lenick, Jr. refers to vitamins being useful for fingernails. French Patent No. 2568471 disclose nail varnish containing soaps with oxides of magnesium, calcium, zinc and barium added to prevent the nail varnish from sticking to the sides of the walls of the nail varnish bottle. Nothing is said in the French patent about how, if at all, these oxides could or would improve the fingernails.
Notwithstanding these attempts to improve the condition of fingernails, the prior art polishes and nail polish bases failed to adequately improve the condition of the fingernail, and do not promote nail growth.
There accordingly remains a need for a composition and method which can be used to improve the condition of the fingernails by thickening the nails, eliminating ridges and white spots, preventing splitting and brittleness, and aiding the fingernails in growing longer and stronger.